So over the years, DUATS (Direct User Access Terminal Service) has had many stays of execution. But yesterday, DUATS closed its doors forever. I was probably one of the dozen or so pilots left in the country that still used it for every flight. Every flightplan that I’ve filed over the past 25 years that wasn’t filed verbally, was done with DUATS. All of my weather, NOTAMS, and flight planning were done with DUATS.
Yes, alternatives started coming onto the market a decade or more ago…and pretty much everyone uses those products now (Fore Flite, Fltplan.com, etc…) but DUATS was part of my “flow” on each trip. I’m sad to see it go and was hoping for one more last minute reprieve…but now I’m moving on to Fltplan.com. I’m sure I’ll find it easier and more useful than the archaic DUATS, but it did serve me well over the years.
